1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to towels, blankets or mats used for laying down on at a beach, picnic sight or exercising on. More particularly, it relates to towels or mats that are circular in shape and can be folded into a compact form for storage or transportation. The present invention also relates to the construction of shelters, the mat being used as a base on which to construct a shelter over the mat. This shelter would serve to protect anYbody sitting on the mat from the wind, rain or from the sun when it is desired to avoid an overexposure to its rays.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The following patents are felt to be related to, but do not disclose the present invention, whether taken singly or in combination.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,861 issued to Johnson discloses a collapsible tent having pivoting frame members.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 480,041 and 4,096,590 issued to Schlesinger and Keshock respectively, disclose hats which include flexible brim members allowing the hats to be twist folded and collapsed for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,719 issued to Sarnecki discloses a waterproof backed towel comprised of a backing sheet of waterproof NYLON and a terrycloth cover sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,754 issued to Mairs, III et al. discloses a combination wind screen and beach blanket apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,784 issued to Fast discloses a wind screen that has frame members affixed to a tent stake. The frame members pivot in relation to one another, but are not removable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,029 issued to Tennant et al. discloses a round towel that converts into a handbag.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,353 issued to Neri discloses a folding beach mat that forms a sun shade upon folding back the mat.
U.S. Pat. No. 293,060 issued to Botbol discloses a circular towel used for sunbathing.
The above patents only disclose basic individual concepts utilized to produce the present invention. None of the above patents disclose the specific construction or application of the applicant's unique collapsible mat and shelter. Applicant also discloses a special form of tent stake that holds the frame members used for erecting the shelter over the mat that was not found in the above patents.